Seiyukai Party

The Seiyukai Party, known as the Constitutional Association of Political Friendship in English, was a social conservative party which existed in Japan from 15 September 1900 to 30 July 1940, when it merged with the Imperial Rule Assistance Association. The party was a pro-government alliance of bureaucrats and former members of the liberal nationalist Kenseito party, and it supported bureaucratic reforms and militarism in order to gain votes, promoting big government and large-scale spending. On 30 July 1940, it joined Fumimaro Konoe's Imperial Rule Assistance Association party during the transformation of Japan into a one-party state, and the party held 51% of seats in parliament by 7 December 1941.